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lovefromgirl{ the list @ Marc and Angel Hack Life }
4. Live below your means. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need. Always sleep on big purchases. Create a budget and savings plan and stick to both of them.
I cannot tell you how much happier I've been since I discovered how to live well on less.
It's not an all-at-once kind of change. I was lucky, in that circumstances forced me to do this but gave me the time to do this slowly. I had to change the way I thought about every purchase I made. "Do I love it?" and "Will it last?" are two big questions for me. Because I was raised on Alton Brown, I'm also fond of items I can put to multiple uses. Even something as seemingly straightforward as buying shampoo now takes thought: is it a kind of shampoo I can afford to toss if my hair hates it?
I am sitting in front of a computer I have had for long enough that some of the jacks are starting to wear out (like the rear audio-in jack, which is why my speakers are now plugged in up front). I busted a keyboard when I spilled soda on it, so I rummaged around in the Room of Oddly Useful Things and found a replacement for free. I've had the colorful pens on my desk for at least two years, the lamp for closer to five, and the pencil sharpener for at least a decade.
Even my Writer's Reference was a gift. (Which is another tip: if I need something or intensely want it, I put it on a wish list, no matter how practical. Need is need and want is want.)
I won't, as a rule, treat myself to anything I can't buy using cash. This works for me because I have very little cash on hand at any given moment. If you're in the habit of carrying wads of twenties, obviously this is less of a tip for you. :)
{ and a way of my own to make my life simpler? If I miss a day of blogging about something, fuhgeddaboudit. Blogging keeps. I want to live every day as it comes. }
4. Live below your means. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need. Always sleep on big purchases. Create a budget and savings plan and stick to both of them.
I cannot tell you how much happier I've been since I discovered how to live well on less.
It's not an all-at-once kind of change. I was lucky, in that circumstances forced me to do this but gave me the time to do this slowly. I had to change the way I thought about every purchase I made. "Do I love it?" and "Will it last?" are two big questions for me. Because I was raised on Alton Brown, I'm also fond of items I can put to multiple uses. Even something as seemingly straightforward as buying shampoo now takes thought: is it a kind of shampoo I can afford to toss if my hair hates it?
I am sitting in front of a computer I have had for long enough that some of the jacks are starting to wear out (like the rear audio-in jack, which is why my speakers are now plugged in up front). I busted a keyboard when I spilled soda on it, so I rummaged around in the Room of Oddly Useful Things and found a replacement for free. I've had the colorful pens on my desk for at least two years, the lamp for closer to five, and the pencil sharpener for at least a decade.
Even my Writer's Reference was a gift. (Which is another tip: if I need something or intensely want it, I put it on a wish list, no matter how practical. Need is need and want is want.)
I won't, as a rule, treat myself to anything I can't buy using cash. This works for me because I have very little cash on hand at any given moment. If you're in the habit of carrying wads of twenties, obviously this is less of a tip for you. :)
{ and a way of my own to make my life simpler? If I miss a day of blogging about something, fuhgeddaboudit. Blogging keeps. I want to live every day as it comes. }